The film, which stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain, will be this year's third screener to reach Academy voters, following "The Music Never Stopped" and "A Better Life."

Sony Pictures Classics

"Take Shelter"

I have learned that Sony Pictures Classics sent out screeners of Jeff Nichols's harrowing drama Take Shelter earlier today to all of the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Broadcast Film Critics Association, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It will be only the third screener to reach Oscar voters this year, thus far, trailing Jim Kohlberg's The Music Never Stopped and Chris Weitz's A Better Life by just a few weeks.

The studio hopes that the film -- which it acquired not longer after its premiere at January's Sundance Film Festival -- will be recognized by awards voters in a number of categories, but especially best actor (Michael Shannon, who gives a tour de force performance), best supporting actress (the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain, who is also being pushed in that category by Fox Searchlight for The Tree of Life and Disney for The Help), and best original screenplay (also Nichols).

Take Shelter debuted in theaters only two weeks ago, on September 30, and is slowly being expanded into more theaters. Thus far, the film, which cost $5 million to make, has generated only $156,247 in overall ticket sales, but $4,727 per screen (the seventh best sum last weekend, when it played in 11 theaters), which bodes well for the coming weeks.